Quality Improvement and Patient Safety
To contact someone for questions or information about Quality Improvement or Patient Safety, use QIPS@erlanger.org
Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (QIPS) initiatives are important components of Medical Student and Graduate Medical Education at our institutions, The University of Tennessee College of Medicine Chattanooga and Erlanger Health System. Currently, Residents and Fellows who graduate from our GME Programs must have been significantly involved in at least one QIPS project in order to meet our campus' institutional GME requirements.
All physicians share responsibility with our care partners and patients for enhancing care quality and insuring safety. To fulfill this responsibility, all of us must develop abilities to analyze the care we provide, understand our roles within health care teams, and play an active role in system improvement. The University of Tennessee Graduate Medical Education (GME) Program is committed to the education and development of exemplary physicians who practice patient-centered health care, foster innovation in patient safety, and create strong inter-professional teams to promote quality, safety, and value in healthcare.
QIPS encompasses culture, awareness, and capability. The capability and awareness relies on measures, skills, and methods we can all develop in our Clinical Learning Environments (hospital units and clinics). The ACGME, through the Common Program Requirements and the Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER), has established a framework for insuring that all GME programs provide residents and fellows with these skills and formative experiences.
All UT GME Departments have committed to this effort and require that residents and fellows actively participate in QIPS as a condition of graduation. Participation involves direct effort in mentored activities designed to improve the care of patients. Improvement means patients will experience better care in one or more aspects described by the Institute of Medicine STEEEP principles:
- S - Safe Care: Care that cannot harm patients or providers.
- T - Timely Care: Patient care given at time of need.
- E - Effective Care: Patient care designed to create best outcomes.
- E - Efficient Care: Patient care that is not wasteful of effort or resources.
- E - Equitable Care: Care that can be accessed by all that need it.
- P - Patient-Centered Care: Care flexibly designed with patients and framed by their values.
Thank you for joining this effort! We are delighted at our opportunity to work, learn and improve together! Going forward, you will be utilizing the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) modules.
For more information about the Erlanger and UT College of Medicine Chattanooga Quality Improvement and Patient Safety programs, please contact: